We love summer. The long nights, weekends spent in beer gardens and back-to-back episodes of Love Island make for a spectacular season. But then that pesky hay fever rears its ugly head and suddenly we're cancelling plans so we can stay at home to sneeze for twenty minutes straight.
As the Met Office says pollen levels will continue to soar following last weekend's heatwave and muggy air, there's no end in sight for the UK's 18 million sufferers - and now allergist and immunologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Dr Kara Wada has added another symptom to the mix - tiredness.
If you've ever felt yourself feeling unnecessarily sleepy during a high pollen count, apparently there's a science-approved explanation behind it that has nothing to do with all those antihistamines you've been popping.
Speaking to Live Science, Dr Wada explained that seasonal allergies can notable reduce energy levels as the body creates inflammation to try to fight them. This results in it expending substantial amounts of energy creating "the cells, proteins and all of the other substances", resulting in the body being drained and emitting some of the same chemical signals as when you are run down.
If that wasn't enough good news for you, the symptoms can also interrupt your sleep and significantly reduce the quality of rest you get which won't be helping that tiredness along either.
As well as feeling tired, the other symptoms of hay fever include:
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• Sneezing or coughing
• A runny or blocked nose
• Itchy, red or watery eyes
• Itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears
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• Loss of smell
• Pain around temples and forehead
• Headache
• Earache
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We wish you the best of luck.
Topics: Life News, Real, Health